Food chain

Example of a food chain in a Swedish lake. Osprey feed on northern pike, which in turn feed on perch which eat bleak that feed on freshwater shrimp. Although not shown, primary producers of this food chain are probably autotrophic phytoplankton. Food chain (also known as food web) are representations of the predator-prey relationships between species within an ecosystem or habitat. Many chain/web models can be applicable depending on habitat or environmental factors. Every known food chain has a base made of autotrophs, organisms able to manufacture their own food (e.g. plants, chemotrophs).

Organisms represented in food chains

In nearly all food chains, solar energy is input into the system as light and heat, utilized by autotrophs (i.e., producers) in a process called photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide and water are reduced to sugars (e.g. glucose), capable of storing the solar energy[1]. This energy, is expended for cellular processes, growth, and development. The plant sugars are polymerized for storage as long-chain carbohydrates, including other sugars, starch, and cellulose. Fats, and proteins.[2] Proteins can be made using nitrates, sulfates, and phosphates in the soil.[3] When autotrophs are eaten by heterotrophs, i.e., consumers, such as animals the carbohydrates, fats, and proteins contained in them become energy sources for the heterotrophs.[2]

Chemoautotrophy
An important exception is lithotrophy, the utilization of inorganic compounds, especially minerals such as sulfur or iron, for energy. In some lithotrophs, minerals are used simply to power processes for making organic compounds from inorganic carbon sources. In a few food chains, e.g., near hydrothermal vents in the deep sea, autotrophs are able to produce organic compounds without sunlight, through a process similar to photosynthesis called chemosynthesis, using a carbon source such as carbon dioxide and a chemical energy source such as hydrogen sulfide, H2S, or molecular hydrogen, H2. Unlike water, the hydrogen compounds used in chemosynthesis are high in energy. Other lithotrophs are able to directly utilize inorganic substances, e.g., iron, hydrogen sulfide, elemental sulfur, or thiosulfate, for some or all of their energy needs.[4][5][6][7] Reduced carbon is recycled back through the carbon cycle as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are oxidized (burned) to release carbon dioxide and water. Oxygen released by photosynthesis is utilized in respiration to utilize chemical energy. Dead organisms (and their locked nutrients) are consumed by detritivores, scavengers, and decomposers,including fungi and insects, thus recycling nutrients back into the soil.

Flow of food chains

Food energy flows from one organism to the next on, losing energy in digestive processes of the predator, as well as the metabolism of the prey. Organisms in a food chain are grouped into trophic levels, based on how many links they are removed from the primary producers. In trophic levels there may be one species or a group of species with the same predators and prey.[10]

Autotrophs such as plants or phytoplankton are in the first trophic level; they are at the base of the food chain. Herbivores (primary consumers) are in the second trophic level. Carnivores, (secondary consumers) are in the third. Omnivores are found in the second and third levels. Predators preying upon other predators are tertiary consumers or secondary carnivores, and they are found in the fourth trophic level.[11] Parasites and pathogens exist at higher levels as well. Beginning in the second level, decomposers can be herbivores or carnivores when their food is derived from plants or animals.[12] It is often the case that the biomass of each trophic level decreases from the base of the chain to the top. This is because energy is lost to the environment with each transfer as entropy increases.

Entropic losses in the chain

About eighty to ninety percent of the energy is expended for the organisms life processes or is lost as heat or waste. Only about ten to twenty percent of the organisms energy is generally passed to the next organism.[13] The amount can be less than one percent in animals consuming less digestible plants, and it can be as high as forty percent in zooplankton consuming phytoplankton.[14] Graphic representations of the biomass or productivity at each tropic level are called ecological pyramids or trophic pyramids. The transfer of energy from primary producers to top consumers can also be characterized by energy flow diagrams

The food chain consists of four main parts:

The Sun, which provides the energy for everything on the planet. Producers: these include all green plants. These are also known as autotrophs, since they make their own food. Producers are able to harness the energy of the sun to make food. Ultimately, every (aerobic) organism is dependent on plants for oxygen (which is the waste product from photosynthesis) and food (which is produced in the form of glucose through photosynthesis). They make up the bulk of the food chain or web. Consumers: In short, consumers are every organism that eats something else. They include herbivores (animals that eat plants), carnivores (animals that eat other animals), parasites (animals that live off of other organisms by harming it), and scavengers (animals that eat dead animal carcasses). Primary consumers are the herbivores, and are the second largest biomass in an ecosystem. The animals that eat the herbivores (carnivores) make up the third largest biomass, and are also known as secondary consumers. This continues with tertiary consumers, etc. Decomposers: These are mainly bacteria and fungi that convert dead matter into gases such as carbon and nitrogen to be released back into the air, soil, or water. Fungi, and other organisms that break down dead organic matter are known as saprophytes. Even though most of us hate those mushrooms or molds, they actually play a very important role. Without decomposers, the earth would be covered in trash. Decomposers are necessary since they recycle the nutrients to be used again by producers.